An exceptionally well-preserved section of the city wall built during the Hasmonean period in the late second century BCE, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday. 

The excavation director told The Press Service of Israel that the newly exposed fortification is among the longest and most intact stretches of ancient defensive architecture ever unearthed in the city, offering rare insight into Jerusalem at the height of Hasmonean rule.

The discovery was made during excavations led by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), when workers clearing the area uncovered a monumental fortification measuring more than forty meters in length and roughly five meters in width, preserved far better than expected for a structure dating to the Second Temple era.